Mike Bernard; Summer Rain Showers; Trafalgar Square
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Advent 7
Mike Bernard; Summer Rain Showers; Trafalgar Square
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All posts by Keith
Mike Bernard; Summer Rain Showers; Trafalgar Square
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Advent 6
Gustav Klimt; The Virgin; 1912
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Advent 5
Tina Negus; Listening …; 2016
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Auction Amusement
Out local auction house’s final sale of the year has come up with a few nice gems amongst the lots. Odd things, and strange combinations, but sadly no stuffed ferrets.
A charming early 19th century boot snuff box with pique decoration inlaid with bone and dated to the sole 1848 [below]
A charming 19th century treen nutmeg grater styled as a post box indicating the inland letter rate with a small picture panel behind
A collection of old lighters, a farriers pen knife, a propelling pencil, safety razors and a Chinese knife in a shagreen scabbard etc.
A plain silver photograph frame, London 1913, containing a period photograph of a young Royal Artillery officer, together with a late Victorian silver-topped glass jar and a match-holder made from the wood of HMS Victory
A collection of approximately 250 china and pottery thimbles
A collection of blue glass wares including a liqueur set, a hardwood temple bell, two horn purses, a turbo tiger vacuum cleaner, a metal shoe last, a large 19th century family bible, model soldiers, further glass ware including sugar bowls etc.
A 19th century Willcox and Gibbs sewing machine in original wooden case
Two 19th century irons, two vintage watering cans and two boxes containing vintage padlocks and keys and screws
Five model ships in glass bottles, a glass model sailing boat, lustre sugar bowl and silver plated figure of a swan [above]
An Amplon gramophone arm, a The Little Kracka fishing reel and a cased timepiece
A varied lot including a copper bed pan on turned wood handle, two brass fireside companion sets, a Burago model Porsche 356B, old planes and chisels, two Whitefriars glass vases, a small quantity of flat ware, a silver plated toast rack and dish, a vintage beaded bag, unused perfumes including Chanel No.5., vintage boxed dominoes, a small quantity of china etc.
Two shelves of interesting vintage wood and metal wares including hip flasks, binoculars, steins, dominoes, buttons, 19th century papier mache box, leather case containing old keys, ceramic and silver plated oval tray, wooden architectural fitments etc.
A vintage wooden cased NHS prescription dispenser [above]
No, I don’t know either!
A fine Japanese carved bone sword of impressive size, decorated overall with warriors and formal ornament, Meiji period
A vintage Tate & Lyle pine packing case for Afternoon Tea Cube Sugar
A stuffed leather figure of a rhinoceros
A large metal walking staff surmounted by a crow [right and below]
Advent 4
Vincent van Gogh; Orchard in Bloom; 1888
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Advent 3
Piet Mondrian; Tableau No. 2/Composition No. VII; 1913
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Advent 2
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Willem van der Velde; Ships on the road; c.1658
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Something to Sum up My Week …
Advent 1
Modigliani; Seated female nude (1917)
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Your Interesting Links
Wow! What’s everyone been up to, cos there’s an enormous amount in this month’s issue!
Science & Natural World
We all know that a vast many parrots and parakeets are bright green. But how did they get this way when so few other creatures are so colourful? [Long read]
Talking of green … there’s a lot more to trees than meets the eye: they have a whole underground communications network. [Long read]
And still with green things … the whole world was changed by a glass terrarium that made it possible to successfully transport plants across the globe.
Which brings us to the seas, where a Portuguese trawler has netted a rare, and rather fearsome, “prehistoric shark”
Health & Medicine
Many major medical advances have their origins in the military, and especially on the battlefield. Here are six which made the move from battlefield to mainstream medicine.
It had to happen, indeed I’m surprised it hasn’t happened sooner: hospitals in Leicester are pioneering free post mortems using CT scanners.
Why isn’t the flu vaccine as effective as it should be? Because simple biology introduces errors during the manufacturing process.
Our body clocks are incredibly important; and the more researchers look the more important the clocks become. They even switch genes and biological processes on and off at various times of day and this can have important implications for medicine.
Our body clocks are related to sleep. And sleep is still a mystery to be untangled.
Do you suffer from exploding head syndrome? If so there’s a group of researchers who want to hear from you.
And finally for this section, unusual and long lost diseases are crawling out of the permafrost as the climate warms up. [Long read]
Social Sciences, Business, Law
Now here’s a novel way to fix the NHS’s funding problems: legalise cannabis! Like everything else, if you legalise it you can regulate and tax it!
Language
I know I swear quite a lot and now I know why: bad language is good for you.
We all know that turkeys don’t come from Turkey, so how is it that they acquired the name?
Art & Literature
John Donne (right), the early Stuart poet, left us a scurrilous manuscript, of which an original has now been discovered hidden in the archives of Westminster Abbey.
History, Archaeology & Anthropology
We’re a load of drunkards, and have been for a long time. Archaeologists analysing residues on pottery, found near Tbilisi in Georgia, have just pushed back the first known winemaking by around 1000 years to 6000BC.
Meanwhile in Egypt archaeologists have been using cosmic rays to image the guts of the Great Pyramid, and have found a hitherto unknown chamber. Two reports, the first from Scientific American and the second from the Guardian.
Exploring the topography of prehistoric Britain through early drawings.
England’s oldest statute law still in force isn’t Magna Carta (that wasn’t passed into statue law until 1297) but the Statute of Marlborough enacted by Henry III in 1267. Much of it has been repealed over the centuries but there are still extant sections on the recovery of debt and the laying waste of farmland.
A silver ring found in Buckinghamshire has been identified as belonging to the royal falconer, Robert Dormer, who died during the Civil War.
London
A Roman temple beneath the City of London has been restored and opened to give an idea of the apparently blood-curdling rites of the cult of Mithras. [Long read]
So why did the Victorians build a series of small green huts across London?
London has 270 extant Underground stations, and quite a number of disused ones. There are also a number of fictional Underground stations and IanVisits provides us with a list of those which have appeared in film or on TV
Lifestyle & Personal Development
Owen Jones in the Guardian makes a compelling case for why we should all be working a four-day week.
Why has UK life-expectancy plateaued in recent years? Danny Dorling investigates.
Finland is trialling the provision of a basic income for everyone, rather than benefits for some. And it appears to be working.
Here are seven things you should never say or do to disabled people.
Food & Drink
Delia Smith doesn’t like modern cookery, describing it as “poncey” and “chefy”. For once I agree with her.
We’re all supposed to eat two portions of oily fish a week. But many of us don’t. Time to rediscover mackerel, anchovies and the humble Cornish sardine.
Where should you keep your tomatoes? In the fridge or on the windowsill? The Chronicle Flask takes a look at some of the chemistry to come up with an answer.
And on that foodie note, I’ll wish everyone a very merry Christmas and I’ll hope to see you again soon afterwards.